Damaris Invasion - Week 3

[The Hive Mind]

Space Report: The previous weeks battles had been hard fought and left the Forward unto Dawn crippled after successfully saving the Bulwark from devastation at the hands of the Greenskins. Governor Kapak suggests that your ship be placed in mooring at the Bulwark to undergo repairs.  However Commander Reynolds lacky of General Dante expresses concerns regarding this order stating he now needs all men and supplies to continue shoring up the defences of the Bulwark. This causes friction between Orbest Dray your first officer and Commander Reynolds and a number of duels between them have to broken apart by the crews of the station and the Forward unto Dawn. This whole situation is resolved when Governor Kapak tells you he will see to it that the Forward unto Dawn is treated with priority and has private words with all involved, perhaps this man is an asset.
The system defense is left to Lady Elizabeth Oleans and Jermiah Blitz, out gunned and on the defensive everything falls apart. Reports come in of hordes of Xenos vessels entering the system, what reports you receive on the ground indicate The Starweaver and the Ordained Destiny playing hit and Run with Ork armada doing everything they can to slow there advance.  The Bulwark is now under constant siege and Orbest Dray has managed to utilise the Forward unto Dawn as a stationary firing platform with the help of the seasoned Master of Ordnance Prolx Tyor. This adds to the close range fire support of the Bulwark and aids in its defense, grudgingly Commander Reynolds admits this is a sound idea and welcomes the extra defence.
The heavens above Damaris scream as Anti aircraft fire lights up the skies on low passing Ork Roks, but to no avail, a total of 14 roks now encircle the surrounding lands of the Damaris capital.

Offensive Report: General Dante mobilises his forces once again amidst the cheering and flag waving of the citizens of Damaris and taking Xero as his personnel pilot and lieutenant aboard the 'Vigiliant Fury' his personal Leman Russ they roll out of the city to wreck what havoc they can on the surrounding roks, 80 Leman Russ, hundreds of infantry, dozens of sentinels and Basilisk artillery form the crusading force and it is a welcome sight.
Initially reports in the command Bunker are good, heavy Greenskin resistance  but the 'Sphinx Guard' seem unstoppable and smash there way towards their objective. As the days wear on reports become more sketchy, Holoithic projections becoming less frequent, no doubt down to the increasing conflict on in the surrounding lands. Then an emergency transmission comes through about 3 days in... Its Dominik Van Goren aka Xero, his huge head dominates the projection, he appears to be at some sort of makeshift Command Bunker. The Vox is distorted by the sounds of cannon fire and explosions, in the background you see badly mauled tanks arrayed into some kind of defensive formation, the Infantry seem dug into trenches and are opening fire into the a distant heaving Greenskin horde.  Xero appears to mouth some words but just garbed static comes through amidst las fire and explosions. Seeming to Curse he starts tinkering with the display and you spot General Dante riding past on his Leman Russ waving a sword around and shouting through a large vox projector, you can only guess he inspiring the troops in the name of the Emperor to save Damaris.  Xero stop tinkering and seems to looks behind you and starts to back off calling you guess for some kind of support and then swings his Heavy bolter down firing as he slowly backs off.  The image flickers and is almost lost, the projection unit seems be dislodged by something and come to land on its side, with horror you watch as heavy booted Xeno feet charge past but little else, the sound quality picks up slightly and you hear the dakka dakka of heavy bolter fire and see the same xenos feet advancing mown down in the background.  There is a thunderous explosion and the image is splattered with mud and gore, The tread of a Leman Russ rolls into view and you hear Dominik screaming as he lets ripp with his Heavy Bolter "General Dante, the command staff are dead killed by bomb squigs, the flanks have been overrun by Killa Kans, hordes of Greenkins flooding in behind them, what in the God-Emperor are we going to do? the men are routing..."
A stern voice projects itself "Pull yourself together man, stop firing that Bolter and get in here, order the survivors to form up on the 'Vigilant Fury', we go to...." The image goes dead.


City Report: 14 Roks, 11 more than the week before, with the System Defense in tatters, the offensive Regiments heavily out gunned and presumed dead or missing even the God-Emperor would have given pause.  The decision to remove the forces from the walls left thousands of Damaris Levy alone and undermanned, the Outposts and Bunkers were gone so there was no slowing the advance.  The Xenos hordes washed over the walls in a day, thousands of Infantry selling there lives in a vain hope that someone would send reinforcements, that never came.  The Greenskins took the walls and made them there own, Waaagh Banners replaced Imperial banners and the dead were hoisted up with them grim trophies and a reminder to the rest of the city what was to come.  The weapon emplacements were modified and turned against the city and the true slaughter began. Hell fire rained down on the city and the hordes roared forward into the city. The fighting spread to every corner of the city, the city drowned in the screams of the dying and the deafening DAKKA DAKKA of gun fire.  The defensive units spread out across the city make the Xenos filth pay in blood for every step they take.  You no longer know the fate of shards forge but the raging display of lights outside the northern city walls tells you they are still putting up one hell of a fight.  Governor Kapak opens the rest of the Palace grounds and the interior to any and all refugees who could make it, and personally commands a commissioned Valkyre assault carrier in bringing relief to encircled units or rescuing refugees and guiding them back to the palace grounds and you see a new man surfacing one filled with the fire of vengeance as his people are massacred .  Your inundated with casualty reports and requests for reinforcements within the command bunker, but these requests are coming from every section of the city and your mind boggles at how your men are still holding out. Slowly sections of the city start folding, The planetary infrastructure zones become a maze of thick melee fighting as gun fights range from building to building and street to street. Fires rage across the entire city, The Levy Training grounds hold for a day before the are overrun and reports of surviving units fighting a retreat reach you, but there is little you can do.  The Sphinx Landing Starport holds strong against the waves of attacks the defenders using there elevated positions and emplaced medusa batterys to halt any assault but they keep coming without number.
The Palace command Bunker and Shrine to Saint Drusus are not exempt from the assault, time and again the hordes of green skin mass and assault and each time Lord Atreides and his Master at Arms Xeal force them back before they can massacre to many of the growing number of refugees, Lucius Blackhand has been hard at work at the centre of the city, the area is sealed off, great barricades are erected, automated weapon emplacements are set up and mines are layed down with the help of a small number of Tech-Priests , the Palace grounds encompassing the Command Bunker and the Shrine to Saint Drusus becomes a fortress and the the fatigued and beleaguered units continue to hold back the horde with flamers and volleys of las fire while ushering in more and more decimated units as areas of the city are over-run and refugees appear seeking shelter from the butchering horde.
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The Xenos seem to be loving it paying a grudging respect to the human defenders, for you are giving them exactly what they want and they seem to roar in praise of the valiant defence every time they are repulsed.
The final days are the worst, communication is almost non existent beyond the Bastion you have created at the centre of the city, great flames are raging across the city and smoke shrouds the city reducing visibility, flashes of las fire and muzzle flashes seen from time to time in the shifting fog of war. Fighting has intensified around the Sphinx landing Platforms and Govenor Kapak moves with all haste aboard his valkyrie to assess the situation.  As you watch his valkyre fly off over the city there is a blinding flash from beyond the northern walls that rises into the night air of the 4th day.  A great wind whips from its point of origin and sweeps many from there feet. When the dust settles the Forge is gone... One by one whatever lights and power across the city begin to flicker out and die in a growing arc from the Forge as all power to the city is extinguished... With growing dread you realise Shard has set off some defensive counter measure in case the Forge was lost, rather that than it fall in to the hand of the vile Greenskins, the situation over there must have been dire indeed. You watch from the top of the Palace as the expanding darkness washes over the Sphinx landing port and then the rest of the city. Xeal orders weapons be handed out to the refugees and with a select cadre of officers give the citizens of Damaris a breakdown of which end to point at the enemy and they are used to help reinforce the walls for what is too come. Lucius Blackhand does not stand idle he wakes the machine spirits of the emergency generators.  The remaining night is almost deathly silent, sporadic fighting from the direction of the Levy Training grounds and the Enforcer Magistratum Fortress give you hope, there are survivors and throughout the night you note the fighting appears to be getting closer as the crack of weapon fire gradually gets closer. The Sphinx Landing fields however are lit up by explosions and there seems to be one hell of a last stand going on over there, you wonder if Governor Kapak made it after the Forge explosion, you wonder if it matters now.. With power restored to the Palace grounds and the Shrine of Saint Drusus it becomes a beacon of hope in what one would say is the very pits of hell as fires burn out of control all around.  The Priests of Saint Drusus begin tolling the bells and invoke prayers to the God-Emperor and his majesty and Arch-Bishop Arint personally leads a sermon on the defiance of the God-Emperor against all the enemies of the Imperium and his great sacrifice so that we his children could become strong and resist the evil at our doorstep. Yet no attack is made upon the palace grounds, and for one remaining night you know sleep.

Dawn breaks across the smouldering ruin of the capital city fires still rage out of control, smoke black and thick crawls into the sky as if trying to escape the devastation below.
Fighting at the Sphinx Landing Platforms seems to have not died down and the defenders seem to have been pushed to the very top landing platform, using its elevated position to keep the attackers at bay, you see a number of Valkyrie Assault Carriers circling the platform mowing down what enemies they can and avoiding enemy fire.
Reports come in of forces from the Levy Training fields and Enforcer Fortress having linked up in the chaos of the city and soon to the cheering of the last Defenders of Damaris a rag tag bunch of wounded and now veteran infantry limp in or ride in on damaged and barely functioning Chimeras, Ork hordes hot on their tail before retreating against the might of the Bastion you have created.  Missionaries tend the wounded and Lord Atreides orders them quickly to the walls, this fight isn't over.
A lone Ork emerges from the shattered buildings he has a head upon a pike, he stamps it into the ground and roars in defiance, but a crack from a sniper rifle is heard and the Ork crumples to the ground. Xeal blows the smoke from his sniper's muzzle and growls and the defenders begin cheering. Angry roars echo from the buildings all around and chanting and war cries begin echoing through the city and slowly begin to intensify.
Lucius Blackhand orders his servo-skull to identify the head, however Lord Atreides tells him not to bother its got to be Governor Kapak, but Lucius stops him, "its far worse Lord Atreides... its commander Reynolds!"
Ordering the head destroyed before anyone identifies it and realising that the Orks have taken the Bulwark autocannon fire shatters the skull and the surrounding area. One question prays on the minds of the Explorers, if the orks have the Bulwark, then they also have the Forward unto Dawn?
There is not much time to dwell on this and Lord Atreides gathers everyone to him standing upon a plinth in the centre of the palace grounds he gives a rousing speech like only a Rogue Trader can.

The assault begins, Waves of Orks crash into the defences of the centre of the city from every side, mines send the filthy Xenos into the sky falling down in chunks time and time again, Autocannon fire holds back battalions of Killa Kans as they exchange fire, blowing chunks from surrounding buildings and the walls you have erected in return. Every minute of the entire day is a cacophony of blood, melee and weapon fire mixed with explosions of orcs attempting to storm the walls through carefully placed minefields.  If there are any survivors fighting for there lives in the Sphinx landing platform they can see the fight and are praising the Emperor that they are not amongst the storm that is washing against your defences. Stormboyz lead by a monstrous Ork known as Skykilla leads lightening strike upon the defences causing opening to emerge for the greenskin horde but each time Xeals tactics and training as Master at Arms is utilised to counter him. They play this game throughout the day, caught in a dance of trying to outmanoeuvre each other.  A Big Mek by the name of Gutwrencha begins erecting Bombard equipment and starts hammering the defences but Lucius is there to set up mini void shields or counter measures, the minds of a Tech Priest of Mars verses the Xeno Greenskins intuitive custom weapons, they two become locked in a battle of oil and steel. Lord Atreides is no less tested by the might of a Great Powerclaw wielding Warboss by the name of Zog, time and again it comes down to who can command their forces better and many times they come inches from one another as the walls are breeched and Lord Atreides is forced to lead the counter charge.
As the battle for domination of the cities heart continues the casualties begin to mount and soon the Orks are treading over the bodies of there brothers the mines having been spent and all along the walls the defenders are forced into the terrible slaughter of melee and the human casualties begin to mount.

As the searing sun hits its zenith the defenders find the walls overrun by Warboss Zog and BigMek Gutwrencha and the defenders are forced to slowly fall back, Garbled Vox communications indicate the Orks have found a way into the Shrine of Saint Drusus and the Elite Guard there are engaged in a fearsome fight with Skykilla and his Stormboyz. Yet you don't have time to deal with that as you are forced back step by step under a withering assault of Greenskins and Lord Atreides orders the remaining Refugee women and children to cram themselves into the Palace. Suddenly there is a ground shuddering explosion and the Orks are sent scattering,

Laser fire spays into the the orks cutting a path of destruction through them, looking to the sky you a handful of Valkyries descending out of the noon sun. The Orks in disarray begin fleeing back into the ruins and one of the Valkyries begins to decend, aboard you see it crammed with infantry and Governor Kapak saluting energetically, it seems the survivors of the Sphinx landing platform have arrived.  Reinforced you hurl the Xenos filth back into the ruins and Governor Kapak hobbles over to you all. In a weary tone "What can I say we were growing jealous of the fun you were having down here" He grins wearily and sets to purpose helping with Lord Atreides order to get the remaining refugees in the palace.
With Valkyries circling and pushing the Xenos back you are given a brief reprieve and the survivors of the Sphinx landing platform stand side by side with the civilians and remaining Infantry of Damaris.  If this were not enough more shuddering explosions echo across the city from a convoy of badly damaged battalion of Basilisks with Armsmen of House Atreides sitting atop the tanks comes into view, Leading them is Hadron Shard it seems they have been fighting there way to you for over a day and somehow made it this far. Accessing the convoys condition you can see its been no easy task doing what they have done. Another thousand Armsmen and a half dozen Basilisks join the defences.
I.d like to say what happens next is a something akin to the glory of the days of the emperor, but this would be a lie. The might of the Ork Horde has tolerated the defense of Damaris for too long and the real battle begins, swarms of Killer Kans descend upon the Palace grounds, Orks beyond counting hurl themselves at the defenders, Warbuggys in the hundreds circle the heart of the city puring fire into the survivirs and Wartrukks ram the defenses unloading Ork Boys into the heart of the palace.  The Shrine is partially gutted by SkyKilla and his stormboyz before Xeal and his armsmen were able to rout them, by nightfall the walls have been lost again, and a slaughter begins, fighting for your lives you see Hadron Shard stood atop a Basilisk ordering the fire of Basilisks with Lucius Blackhand at the swarming and angry horde, they are then overrun and you see them engaged in a pitched battle with the thousand strong armsmen behind them against twice there number of Greenskins when the lines are breeched, Warboss Zog separates Xeal from his commander with a deft swipe of his powerclaw and locks Lord atreides powerglove in his PowerKlaw and they struggle with one another. Cursing Zogs name and the fires of realisation sparking in his eyes as he looks at Zog there is a thunderous roar, not the roar of the dense hand to hand fighting of thousands of men around him or the close range fire fighting happening all around but the roar of Skykilla descending from the Skies.
*BOOM*
Lucius Blackhand and Hadron Shard watches as SkyKilla decends for the kill and they combine there luminen charge to deflect the Stormboy Nob from crushing his companion at the last moment and so Xeal and a furious Skykilla circle one another slowly...
*BOOM*
Locked in the vice like grip of Warboss Zog he strikes his power blade deep into his gut but Zog merely growls  and lifts Lord Atreides up and hurls him across the expanding battlefield, Lord Atreides rolls and lands on his feet and a swarm of orcs decend upon him, Mihail screams a challenge. "You and me Zog!!!". and the advancing orcs stop scratching there heads.
*BOOM*
The horde of Greenskins in the distance fly into the air like skittles
*BOOM*
And again, there is confusion amongst the Orks and Warboss Zog Growls "Next time umie!!! Fall back lads, the umies friends are returnin!!!"
Amidst the confusion the conflict around seems to slow down for  Lord Atreides as he kneels panting on his power sword his arm broken the Power Glove weighing his damaged arm to the ground.  He sees Lucius and Shard struggling against a half mechanical giant Ork which can only be Gutwrencha, some kind of Kustom Force Field deflecting there blows as he fires at them with a Kustom blasta. Xeal dancing around SkyKilla peppering him with telling shots as SkyKilla attempts to get to grips with him his twin chainswords whirling around him in a deadly arc.
*BOOM*
Orks fly through the air as a whole battalion albeit a heavily scarred one of the Sphinx Heavy Guard crush there way into the Palace Grounds firing there battle cannons, General Dante orders a defensive line as a score of sentinels limp there way in firing at the fleeing greenskins. Sky Killa Takes to the skies and Gutwrencha retreats before the renewed onslaught of the two Tech-Priests Lucius and Shard.
Xero pop his head out of the pilot exit griining and states "Did i miss anything?"

[The Hive Mind]

Thousands of Troops flood into the centre of the city survivors from all the different regiments that had escaped the citys devestation had been rounded up by general Dante and a counter assault into the city had followed and they now reinforce your seiged troops. You relief is shattered for a moment as the night air fills with a gigantic roaring, whats stars are visible are blotted out and a great shadow crosses the city, a mighty vessel has taken up position above the Palace grounds, staring up in disbelief refugees begin emerging from the palace lead by Governor Kapak and stare up with you at the 'Forward unto Dawn'

General Dante takes over command of the troops and begins ordering positions fortified and sentinel scout units to chase down any straggling Greenskins.

Xero runs over to Lord Atreides and brings medics with him. He has in his hands a Vox communicator.
"Sir, Orbest Dray first Officer requesting orders..."